Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more "noise" than signals of a short-term surplus. As of 3:50 PM WIB, Brent was at $69.60/barrel (+0.29%) and WTI was at $64.83/barrel (+0.31%). The gains were moderate, but enough to keep prices near the psychological $70 level for Brent. From a geopolitical perspective, market focus is on the potential for escalation in the Middle East. Recent reports...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the Trump administration is prepared to "roll the date forward" with trading partners negotiating in good faith if the deadline marking the end of the 90-day pause on President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs is reached with no deal. "It is highly likely that those countries - or trading blocs as is the case with the EU - who are negotiating in good faith, we will roll the date forward to continue the good-faith negotiations," Bessent told the House Ways and Means Committee. "If someone is not negotiating, then we will...
In a post published on Truth Social on Wednesday (11/6), US President Donald Trump said that a trade deal with China is done and added that the deal is now waiting for final approval from himself and Chinese President Xi Jinping. "The complete magnets, and the rare earths that are needed, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide what has been agreed to to China, including Chinese students who use our colleges and universities (which is always nice of me!)," Trump said, adding: "We get a total tariff of 55%, China gets 10%. Very good relationship! Thank you for your...
U.S. core inflation rose less than forecast in May for a fourth straight month, suggesting businesses are looking for ways to limit how much of their higher rates cost customers. The consumer price index, which excludes the often volatile food and energy categories, rose 0.1% from April, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday. It was up 2.8% from a year ago. (alg) Source: Bloomberg
The US and China ended two days of high-stakes trade talks with a plan to revive the flow of sensitive goods — a framework that now awaits the blessing of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. After about 20 hours of negotiations in London, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the two sides had laid out a framework for implementing the Geneva consensus that lowered tariffs last month. "First of all, we have to get rid of the negatives," he said. "Now, we can move forward to try to have positive trade, to increase trade." While the more upbeat tone should reassure investors worried about the...
For months, Donald Trump has imposed unprecedented levels of tariffs and trade restrictions on China, part of a strategy to force Xi Jinping into talks that the U.S. president hopes will help cut the trade deficit and boost American manufacturing. With U.S. tariffs soaring to 145% and the Trump administration boasting that it has the upper hand over China, Beijing has turned the tables, essentially halting exports of the one thing the modern world can't live without: rare-earth magnets. As slowing shipments of products containing obscure elements like dysprosium and terbium begin to pinch...
The United States (US) and China agreed to a preliminary deal on how to implement the consensus the two sides reached in Geneva, per Bloomberg. US negotiators said early Wednesday that they "absolutely expect" that issues around shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets will be resolved with the framework implementation, even though the full details of their deal weren't immediately available. Market reaction At the time of press, the US Dollar Index was down 0.06% on the day at 99.0. Source : Fxstreet
A U.S. federal appeals court has upheld President Trump's sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs, allowing them to remain in effect while it reviews a lower court's ruling that blocked them. The lower court had found that Trump exceeded his authority. These tariffs affect most U.S. trading partners, including Canada and China. Although the appeals court has yet to decide whether the tariffs comply with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), it has temporarily suspended the lower court's ruling. On May 28, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that only Congress has the...
The World Bank lowered its global growth forecasts for 2025 to 2.3%, from 2.7% projected in January, which would be the weakest in 17 years, outside of the recessions in 2009 and 2020. For 2026, global growth is seen at 2.4%, also below 2.7% previous expected. The bank said global growth is slowing due to a substantial rise in trade barriers and the pervasive effects of an uncertain global policy environment. It also added that if trade disputes were resolved with agreements that halve tariffs relative to their levels in late May, 2025, global growth could be stronger by about 0.2 pp on...
Gold rises in the early Asian trade. There's a broad commodities uptrend, driven by macro uncertainty, a weaker dollar, and persistent demand for "hard" assets, says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakened against its US counterpart and reversed part of Friday's recovery from the lowest level since July 23 following Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks....